Terrified shoppers have taken to Twitter, claiming to be inside the Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh, North Carolina.
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Another said “pandemonium broke out” as people ran over table and chairs to get out of the mall.
Police are investigating after reports of gunfire sent shoppers running from the mall or led them to hide inside stores on Saturday.
Deck-Brown said they can not confirm gunshots, but that a sound came from the Lush store based on the 911 call.
Police in North Carolina have responded to reports of a shooting at a busy mall in an affluent area of Raleigh, according to CBS affiliate WNCN.
A witness, Lauren Baker says she heard what she thought were gunshots and was in the middle of the chaos afterwards as people ran out of the building.
‘We have not determined that there was a shooter, ‘ she told WRAL, adding that police had not found shell casings or people with gunshot wounds.
While some people reported seeing a gun, “no one has reported that we had a gun fired, so we are looking at all possibilities”, Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown told reporters.
Eight people were treated for minor injuries suffered during the frenzy to escape the mall, police said.
One witness said he was 10 or 15 feet from the incident and told WTVD he heard five or six shots and saw a man brandish a handgun.
Deck-Brown said at her news conference just after 5 p.m. that the mall had been emptied and people weren’t being allowed back inside in the hours after the shooting.
The owner of a clothing store called Casanova said he saw a shooting unfold after an argument in the mall’s food court.
Warring said they staying behind the barricade for about 45 minutes.
At last check, officers say they did not have reports of any injuries.
In the late afternoon heat, scores of people gathered outside the mall.
Zoe Hanks, 12, was at a hairdresser inside the mall, having the hair around her shoulders lightened, when word of an emergency came. She said she knew it was time to go when “all he people were running”. “We heard shots, several shots”.
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